Source Description:(cover) The Soldiers' Almanac for 1863.
George B. Taylor
24 p.
Staunton, Va.
Prepared by George B. Taylor
1863
Call number 5049 Conf (Rare Book Collection, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)

The electronic edition is a part of the UNC-CH
digitization project, Documenting the American South. This electronic edition has been created by Optical
Character Recognition (OCR). OCR-ed text has been compared against the
original document and corrected. The text has been encoded using the
recommendations for Level 4 of the TEI in Libraries Guidelines.
Original grammar, punctuation, and spelling have been preserved. Encountered
typographical errors have been preserved, and appear in red type.
The cover has been encoded as a title page.
The calendar months on pps. 3 - 14 have been scanned as images. Any hyphens occurring in line breaks have been
removed, and the trailing part of a word has been joined to
the preceding line.
All quotation marks, em dashes and ampersand have been transcribed as
entity references.
All double right and left quotation marks are encoded as " and "
respectively.
All em dashes are encoded as --
Indentation in lines has not been preserved.
Running titles have not been preserved.
Spell-check and verification made against printed text using Author/Editor (SoftQuad) and Microsoft Word spell check programs.

Library of Congress Subject Headings,

21st edition, 1998

Languages Used:

English

LC Subject Headings:

Almanacs, American -- Virginia.

Almanacs, American -- Confederate States of America.

Confederate States of America -- Officials and employees --
Registers.

JANUARY.

FEBRUARY.

MARCH.

APRIL.

MAY.

JUNE.

JULY.

AUGUST.

SEPTEMBER.

OCTOBER.

NOVEMBER.

DECEMBER.

OFFICIAL RECOGNITION OF CHRIST.

When Sir Henry Havelock entered Persia, at
the head of a British army, he wrote: "I have
good troops and cannon under my command; but
my trust is in the Lord Jesus, my tried and merciful
friend. To Him all power is entrusted in heaven
and on earth. Him daily seek for me, as I seek
Him without shadow of doubting." After a
battle, he wrote: "We must be ever thankful for the
preserving mercies of the day. The cannonade
was warm, and my steamer, the Berenice, crowded
with Highlanders, led the troop-ships to the
point where we landed. I felt throughout that the
Lord Jesus was at my side." When tidings of
peace came, he wrote: "The intelligence, which
elevates some and depresses others, finds me calm
in my reliance on that dear Redeemer, who has
watched over and cared for me, even when I knew
Him not, these three-score and two years."

'With desire have we desired' to hear that
voice from our civil rulers or military leaders,
and have not heard it. Alas, it has had no echo
in the official papers of the President, the resolutions
of Congress, or the dispatches of Generals.
Search through all those, and you will not find a
word that is distinctively Christian. Every one
of them might have been penned by a mere Theist.
None testifies that the author of it has a "Lord
Jesus."

And is there no grievous wrong, no desert of
national chastisement, in this? Is not the Lord
Jesus, by the testimony of Scripture, the Administrator
of Providence, "the Prince of the kings
of the earth," who rules and overrules all things,
in preparation for the time when the glad acclaim
shall be heard, "The kingdoms of this world are

become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His
Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever?" Is
it not true that we can never conquer peace and
independence, until He--the Lamb in the midst
of the throne--"has taken to Himself His great
power" and exercised it on our behalf? And
shall He not withhold the more signal interpositions
of His hand, if, when that Hand is put forth
to help us, our authorities persistently seal their
lips against all confession of it? Oh, for at least
one hearty, outspoken acknowledgment of the
Lord Jesus, from the men who fill the high places
of the Government and the army! It would come
to us as one rift in the clouds that overhang the
nation--one ray of serener light from the heavens.

THE UNSEEN BATTLE-FIELD.

There is an unseen battle field,
In every human breast,
Where two opposing forces meet,
And where they seldom rest.

That field is veiled from mortal sight,
'Tis only seen by One
Who knows alone where victory lies,
When each day's light is done.

One army clusters strong and fierce,
Their chief of demon form;
His brow is like the thunder cloud,
His voice the bursting storm.

Pride and Lust, and Hate,
Whose troops watch night and day,
Swift to detect the weakest point,
And thirsting for the fray.

THE HAND OF GOD RECOGNIZED.

The following remarks, by the Hon. H. V.
Johnson, Confederate States Senator, of Georgia,
merit the serious consideration of all who desire
the peace of their country:

"When is this struggle to end? Shall we conquer
the North? No, we have no desire to do
this. Shall the North conquer us? Forbid it,
Heaven! But I tell you that this war will never
be ended till we are all conquered by the chastising
hand of Providence, and we are brought back to
the virtues of our forefathers. Though our armies
have been victorious in nearly every battle, yet
almost every man and woman is bathed in tears
and cast down with sorrow at the loss of some
friend or kinsman most dear. Every hearthstone
is reft of its enjoyments by mourning and weeping,
and the wails of sadness are heard all over
the land. This is the chastisement of God, inflicted
upon us for a departure from the paths of
virtue. This is the lesson of the hour. Then let
us return with humility to the practice of those
great virtues which our fathers cherished, and
without which our liberties cannot be maintained."

OUR FATHER.

Oh! the unspeakable privilege to have him for
our Father, who is the Father of all mercies and the
God of all comfort[.] Do not think he can shut out a
bleeding soul that comes to him, and refuse to take
and to bind up a broken heart that offers itself to
him puts itself into his hand and entreats his
help. Doth he require pity of us, and doth he
give it to us, and is it not infinitely more in himself?
All that is in angels and men, is but an
insensible drop to the ocean.

DARK HOURS.

Scenes of deep distress await us all. It is in
vain to expect to pass through the world without
falling into them. We have in our Lord's example
a model for our behaviour in the most severe
and most trying of these occasions; afflicted, yet
resigned; grieved and wounded, yet submissive;
not insensible of our sufferings, but increasing the
ardor and fervency of our prayer in proportion
to the pain and acuteness of our feelings. But
whatever may be the fortune of our lives, one great
extremity, at least, the hour of approaching death,
is certainly to be passed through. What ought,
then, to occupy us? What can their support us?
Prayer, prayer, with our blessed Lord himself,
was a refuge from the storm; almost every word
he uttered, during that tremendous scene, was
prayer; prayer the most earnest, the most urgent
--repeated, continued, proceeding from the recesses
of his soul--private, solitary--prayer for
deliverance--prayer for strength--above everything,
prayer for resignation.

--Paley.

RELIGION IN THE ARMY.

A correspondent of the Confederate Baptist
writing from Morris Island says that drear and
bleak as it is, to many a soul it has been as Patmos
to the apostle John, where he was inspired to sing
"unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our
sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and
priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory
and dominion for ever and ever." God's Holy
Spirit has been in their midst, blessing their nightly
services with refreshing from on high. Christians
have been greatly revived and strengthened,
and several are rejoicing in "hope of glory."

THE PIOUS DEAD OF THIS WAR.

The martyred dead have taken possession of
this Southern soil for the Southern people. It was
theirs originally, by the gift of God, and they have
bought it anew by their blood. This land will be
endeared to us and to our posterity, because it is
the earthly resting-place of our immortal dead.
It was the boast of the ancient Greek, as his eye
wandered over his beautiful and beloved land, that
every hill bore the tomb of a hero or the temple of
a god. But more noble dust mingled not with the
soil of Attica than that which reposes in the bosom
of our own dear native land. It surely lends
attraction to heaven, viewed with reference to our
present constitution, to think that there we shall
behold and converse with the best and loveliest we
have known on earth. If Socrates could talk of
transports of joy at the prospect of seeing Palamedes,
Ajax and other heroes of antiquity in a
future world, how should the Christian feel when
he looks forward to all everlasting abode, not a
transient meeting with the saints of all ages--with
his Christian friends who have fallen in his
defence--and with Christ Himself, the Author and
Finisher of our faith. If he hoped for felicity in
comparing his experience with theirs--how shall
we rejoice in reviewing dispensations of Providence
now impenetrably dark, or in, perfectly understood,
but then shining in the light of Heaven.
The past and the future meet in the memory of the
dead. The sweetest and brightest link in the
chain that stretches back over the past, binds us
to the dead; and that chain stretches forward to
eternity and attaches itself to the throne of the
living God. Thus death joins on to life; and all
that is sacred in memory connects itself with all

that is inspiring in hope. Weeping may endure
for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.

--Rev. J. M. Atkinson.

AN ADMIRAL ON HIS KNEES.

Admiral Benbow, after many years of hard service,
for he had only merit to recommend him,
visited Shrewsbury, his native town, and, on his
arrival, proceeded to the house of his nativity,
which was then occupied by people in no way
related to him. Yet he entered the house as if it
had been his own, walked up stairs, went into the
room where he first drew breath, fell on his knees,
and returned thanks to the great Disposer of
events, for His protection and support through his
past eventful life.

READING THE SCRIPTURES.

Dr. Samuel Johnson, as is well known, was
distinguished as a moral writer; his compositions
have seldom been excelled in energy of thought
and beauty of expression. To a young gentleman
who visited him, on his death-bed, he said, "Young
man, attend to the voice of one who has possessed
a certain degree of fame in the world, and who
with shortly appear before his Maker; read the
Bible every day of your life."

THE RIGHT BASIS OF COURAGE.

A Richmond correspondent of the "South-Western
Baptist" says: "Stonewall Jackson remarked
to an officer, 'I believe as truly as I do
anything, that if I die heaven will be my home.
Thank God, that matter is settled; and I have
nothing to fear from Yankee bullets.' "

THE CHRISTIAN'S PRIVILEGE.

To be a Christian is an unspeakable privilege
Calvin did not overrate it, when he wrote to Edward
VI.: "It is a great thing, Sire, to be a king,
especially of such a country; and yet I doubt not
that you regard it as above all comparison greater
to be a Christian." It lifts us from the depths of
hostility to God, and numbers us with His elect--
adopts us among His sons. It assures us of His
Favor, employs us the accomplishment of His
purposes, transforms us into His likeness, animates
us with His Spirit, and finally gathers us to
His presence.

ONE DAY.

No man knows what a day may bring forth;
what miseries, what good or what evil, what afflictions,
what liberty, what bonds, what good
success, or what bad success, a day may bring forth;
and therefore, a man need every day be in the
closet with God, that he may be prepared and fitted
to entertain and improve all the occurrences,
successes, and emergencies which may attend him
in the course of his life.

IT IS NOT DYING.

No, no! It is not dying
To Jesus' self to go;
The gloom of earth forsaking,
In one's pure home awaking,
Should give no pang of woe.

No, no! It is not dying,
To leave this world of strife;
And seek that blessed river,
Where Christ shall lead forever,
His sheep 'neath trees of life.